Drones and other unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are increasingly used for public safety, commercial, and other operations. For example, unmanned aerial vehicles may be deployed for surveillance, tracking a suspect, search and rescue operations, and the like. Unmanned aerial vehicles may also be deployed to retrieve or deliver payloads over long distances. Unmanned aerial vehicles may also be deployed for tracking weather conditions and gathering 3-D mapping data. In some operations, multiple unmanned aerial vehicles operate as a fleet to perform their operations.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.
The apparatus and method components have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein.